Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1887-06-25
lore, sss =. truly szposssss Of lie oharsc.sr

when seeiins rssohss certain point u
spo6ch end mounls The winga Of song, and 70
dlss ward - ~ hopA"
"Whsn greas crisss fali upon nations and
osaeosy iaiis 10 give full vent 70 the heroic
purposs Of thsif hearts, some poet link Is
hymn sweeps Ne affnles on 10 victory-the
fiery claoeor Of The Mssssillalse, OF the nd,
staisly rhythm Of the John Brown Hymn.
s s":ss oSs S.o9s rom 10 'S Tss
David are vocal with psalms. There 10
nothing grand In Thought, deep In feeling,
spisndid In actIou, bat runs directly TO song
tor expfssaion.
"Iu the simplest life there 10 always this
tendency Of ieeIing. whistler Of (oy OF sad
nsss, TO voice itself In melody. When night
dfaWs 10 curtain GlOomily around ua, and
al tho weariness Of the day and tho sadness
forcing tearS, idle but real, TO our eyelids,
deepooing aud swelling into . burden OF
despair, how naturally We turn TO music for
uttsrancs end relief Some gentle strain II
chord 81 harmony is waited from The dis.
tance, and tho SD spoil 10 broken. "
Az In nature there 10 Q resolution Of
forces BY which heat becomes light, 10 enc
tion, Of whstsver sort II intrusted 70 music,
world Of humanity tossing with emotions
love. sorrow, hope-driving mon hither and
thithes, and here In music ready 70 take these
emotions up into itsslt whore II purihes and
suolimstss thsm and gives them back ~ joy
heavenly, how divine!"
"The summit OF existence In feeling tho
| summit OF character IN sympathy, and
music is tho art.form that links them to-
gether. "
emusic 10 the srt-path to God In whom we
live and move and have our being. We msy
yet 70 God by many ways-by the silent com.
muniou OF spirit with spirit by aspiration,
by fidelity OF service, but there II no path Of
expression 90 open and direct ~ that Of
music. )"
could 60 on quoting such gems by the
score from this one lecture alone. But no
number Of extracts can give an idea of one OF
the chief excsllencos aud sources OF strength
| Of all Of Dr.. Munger's discourses, namely, the
artistic symmeuy, logical completeness, and
unity OF plan, which distinguish each one OF
them, and make each . finished whole. hsvs,
however, quoted % much, not only for the
true and ooautiful thoughtnuggets con-
tatnod In the passages given, but also TO give
some notion OF the exquisite literary style,
aivoneas Of the language. equalled only by
its charming graceiuiness aud scholarly re-
hnement
Munger writes They were marked already
In his former volume OF sermons The
Freedom Of Fdith, and his manly and help
full lectures to young men, " On the Thresh-
hold, both which, together with Q volume
OF delightful sermons to children, entitled
Lsmps and Paths, were published In the
course OF the last three or four yeara For
this grand preacher is still comparatively Q
young man, being scarcely, II at oil, over
forty years old.
In his volume The Freedom of Faith
he drew special attention TO himself and his
book BY the Introductory sssay, which wss
| one Of the nrst, clesrest, and fullest, expo.
sttions Of the so-called New Theology. For
DR.. Munger IL ono OF the leaders in that
| movement and his sermons and lectures are
| among the best examples and illustrations OF
the spirit method, and teaching Of Progress
| sive Orthodoxy In extstence In this lies si
| least % much Of their excellence, their win.
ming powers, their manly franknesa, their
"sWest reasonsblsness, " that 1t 10 safe to say
no preacher of the old Calvinism, against
which this New Theology is protest and
On nearly every page Of The appeal to Life
this is msde plain, just - it was In " Tne
Freedom OF Faith. Indeed the spirit and
method OF the New Theology in its practi.
cal app ication are nowhere better defined
voluma For Instance In this: "There are
three general ways In which the gospel il
presented the dogmstic way, which inter
prets the revelation through credal forms
pie repetition Of the single revelation con.
tanned in the Bible without the inter relation
OF its truths, and with an Implication of
faith that deprecates thought and requires
only arbitrary acceptance and third way
truth setin the light OF daily life and the real
processes OF human society. 1t IL not diverse
70 dogma 1t accepts with docility the reve.
lation, but It seeks for the vindication and
illustration Of the truth In the actual lie Of
the world, on the ground that the revelation
10 through and In this life. "
Again he says, and wish oil preachers re
allied the force and truth OF his words |:
"The thing to be done at present is not to
crowd upon men system conceived In some
way to be true, nor to bind them down to Q
hard, literal, undiscerning reception of text,
but to set forth the identity Of the faith with
the action OF man's nature In the natural re-
lations Of life; TO show that the truth of God
10 also the truth OF man. This 10 the central
meaning OF the Incarnation, and preaching
should be the OK xpOsitiOn OF It." In accord.
| ance with this truth all the sermons in this
volume arc written. They are indeed an
Appeal TO Life. And In accord with It, too,
tho last four discOurses, not sermons, are in.
| cluded, the grand one on Evolution and
tho Fsith," one of the very finest things on
| the subject ever written, "Immortslity and
| Modern Thought" " Man the Final Form In
| Creation" and the one on Music as Rsvela.
| tion." The former three are really oil written,
| - the author says, ITO meet the needs OF Q
vast number who are asking II they can
think under the principle of evolution and
also - Christian belisverA" What sold
| Theology" preacher would ever have written
these words that follow this sentence? "The
| necessity OF allowing the possibility OF this ID
my only reason for Including them, with the
hope that they may to the precursors Of far
| better efforts by others In the same direction
| tho most imperative work now pressing
| upon religious teachers who are able TO dis
| Germ the signs OF the times, and who would
serve their DAY aud generation"
No one can read these discourses without
feeling that In DR.. Munger We have one o
the strongest preachers the American pull
pit has yet produced. In his distinctive
charactsristios no 10 unique. Bsecher va
more original, startling, often eccentric In hi
forms Of expression; Dr. btOrrs hes . more
luxurisnt rhetoric DR.. John hall puts mOr,
| OF hts personal presence, forcs, magnetism
into his speech Philips Brooks, too, owe
more 70 his overwhelming flow OF eloquenoe